the Steven P.J. Wood Senior Fellow and Vice President for Research and Publications

1.Blitzer, Cafferty Muse About 3rd Clinton Term: "Answer to Prayer"
CNN's Wolf Blitzer wondered, on Tuesday's Situation Room, "if Bill Clinton could run for President again, would he be re-elected?" Though Clinton never reached 50 percent (43% in 1992, 49% in 1996), Jack Cafferty excitedly agreed with the proposition: "Oh, I think he probably would be, in a heartbeat, don't you?" Cafferty listed some other potential candidates, such as "the Governor down in Virginia" who "might be a good guy" and "they got Barack Obama," but instead, "who do you see on TV? You see Hillary and Chuck Schumer and Ted Kennedy." Cafferty maintained: "Clinton would be the answer to a prayer. Not Hillary, her husband." The exchange followed the 5pm EDT hour "Cafferty File" segment question: "Can religion help the Democrats?" That was prompted by Bill Clinton's recommendation to Democrats that they emphasize "values" and religious beliefs. None of the e-mailed replies Cafferty read had made any suggestion about Bill Clinton running for President again.
AUDIO&VIDEO

2.Dobbs Scolds Papers for Distorting Illegal Alien Protest Agenda
On Tuesday's Lou Dobbs Tonight on CNN, Dobbs scolded "this country's major daily newspapers" for how they "misled" readers in their coverage of immigration rallies since "their headlines failed to tell the truth about what the rallies are all about: Rallies in favor of illegal immigration, and amnesty for illegal aliens." Dobbs showed the front pages of four newspapers, starting with the New York Times' headline of "Immigrants Rally in Scores of Cities for Legal Status," followed by the Washington Post's description of "Immigration Rights Rallies," USA Today's "Historic rallies voice a 'dream'" and the Wall Street Journal's "Immigration-Policy Protests Draw Huge Crowds of Workers." Dobbs, however, offered praise for one newspaper's "astute" take, quoting approvingly from a Tuesday Las Vegas Review-Journal editorial which contended: "Organizers wanted the marches to be more about people and less about policy. Most television stations swallowed the bait and delivered news reports soft enough to follow Sesame Street on PBS."

3.Vieira Denies Any Political Agenda, Then Shows She Has One on War
Philadelphia Inquirer TV reporter Gail Shister recounted Tuesday that incoming Today co-host Meredith Vieira, who in 2004 declared that the war was "built on lies" and marched in an anti-war protest, "says she's being unfairly labeled as a raving liberal by some right-wing bloggers." Vieira insisted that "I'm an independent. I'm not a Democrat or a Republican. I'm not particularly interested in politics," but then she undermined herself as she adopted the attitude of those on the far-left who apply the loaded "lie" term to assertions about the war: "Every time you read the paper, somebody lies about something [about the war.] I've been vocal about it....Every day there are new questions. I want to know why we are there, what the game plan is, what the discrepancies are between what we're being told and what's really going on."

CNN's Wolf Blitzer wondered, on Tuesday's Situation Room, "if Bill Clinton could run for President again, would he be re-elected?" Though Clinton never reached 50 percent (43% in 1992, 49% in 1996), Jack Cafferty excitedly agreed with the proposition: "Oh, I think he probably would be, in a heartbeat, don't you?" Cafferty listed some other potential candidates, such as "the Governor down in Virginia" who
"might be a good guy" and "they got Barack Obama," but instead,
"who do

you see on TV? You see Hillary and Chuck Schumer and Ted Kennedy."
Cafferty maintained: "Clinton would be the answer to a prayer. Not
Hillary, her husband." The exchange followed the 5pm EDT hour "Cafferty
File" segment question: "Can religion help the Democrats?" That
was prompted by Bill Clinton's recommendation to Democrats that
they emphasize "values" and religious beliefs. None of the
e-mailed replies Cafferty read had made any suggestion about Bill
Clinton running for President again.

[This item was posted Tuesday night, with video, on the MRC's blog, NewsBusters.org. The RealPlayer and Windows Media, as well as MP3 audio, will be added to the posted version of this article, but to watch the clip in the meantime, go to: newsbusters.org ]

A Candy Crowley story, which aired in the 4pm and 7m EDT hours of The Situation Room, featured this soundbite from the former President at a Democratic fundraiser: "We don't have to be afraid of our values. And for those of us who are about to celebrate Easter, the number one admonition in the New Testament for citizens was not to forget the poor. That's mentioned over 500 times. You can't find all that stuff they talk about mentioned over two or three times, if at all."

At 5:58pm EDT on the April 11 program, Cafferty, in Manhattan, recapitulated his topic of the hour and then read some of the e-mailed replies, with text on screen: "Former President Bill Clinton says Democrats should not be afraid of their values. At a Democratic fundraiser, Clinton mentioned the coming holiday of Easter. And he reminded the crowd that Democrats stand for one of the hallmarks of the New Testament, helping the poor. So the question we came up with, after a great deal of thought, was, 'Can religion help the Democrats?' "We got this from Linda in Texas: 'Religion can help Democrats and anyone else but only if it's genuine and not just for political gain.' Nancy writes from Edgewater, New Jersey, 'Jack, the reason we're in the trouble we're in now is because we're not keeping religion and politics separate. The minute George Bush brought his religion into the White House as his full time aide, it divided America.' Doak writes from Mississippi: 'That donkey has left the barn. It is and always will be the economy stupid. Bottomless war debts, mega increases in energy costs, healthcare costs, yada, yada, yada.' Lou writes, 'No, Jack, religion cannot save the Democrats. Only the Mexicans can do that now. Once we clean house of the present incumbents on both sides of the aisle, the only place for them to go will be Mexico.' Luis in Patterson, New Jersey: 'Of course it can. If Republicans can milk that sacred cow, why can't the Democrats.' And Maggie writes from Illinois: 'Jack, I don't understand the question. Are you asking if they even have a prayer in November? Or are you asking if praying for them would help? OK, I will, but it seems pretty desperate if you ask me.'"

Wolf Blitzer, in Washington, DC, then mused about a potential third term for the 42nd President: "Jack, if Bill Clinton could run for President again, would he be re-elected?" Cafferty: "Oh, I think he probably would be, in a heartbeat, don't you? The Democrats have no one. They have a couple of potential candidates which they seem intent on keeping out of the public spotlight. I mean, I think the Governor down in Virginia might be a good guy. They got Barack Obama in Illinois. But instead, who do you see on TV? You see Hillary and Chuck Schumer and Ted Kennedy. I, you know, Clinton would be the answer to a prayer. Not Hillary, her husband." Blitzer: "We'll see. We're going to pursue that question. Thanks very much, Jack."

Don't know when Blitzer plans to "pursue" that question, but he didn't do so in the third -- 7pm EDT -- hour on

On Tuesday's Lou Dobbs Tonight on CNN, Dobbs scolded "this country's major daily newspapers" for how they "misled" readers in their coverage of immigration rallies since "their headlines failed to tell the truth about what the rallies are all about: Rallies in favor of illegal immigration, and amnesty for illegal aliens." Dobbs showed the front pages of four newspapers, starting with the New York Times' headline of "Immigrants Rally in Scores of Cities for Legal Status," followed by the Washington Post's description of "Immigration Rights Rallies," USA Today's "Historic rallies voice a 'dream'" and the Wall Street Journal's "Immigration-Policy Protests Draw Huge Crowds of Workers."

Dobbs, however, offered praise for one newspaper's "astute" take, quoting approvingly from a Tuesday Las Vegas Review-Journal editorial which contended: "Organizers wanted the marches to be more about people and less about policy. Most television stations swallowed the bait and delivered news reports soft enough to follow Sesame Street on PBS."

On the April 11 Lou Dobbs Tonight, after a brief item on how an anti-illegal immigration protester was attacked and injured in Maine, and Dobbs pointing out how the many protests elsewhere were violence-free, Dobbs observed, as viewers saw the front pages of the newspapers with the headlines he quoted:

"This country's major daily newspapers, however, may have misled some of their readers today in their coverage of those demonstrations and rallies. Their headlines failed to tell the truth about what the rallies are all about: Rallies in favor of illegal immigration, and amnesty for illegal aliens. The New York Times, for example, headlined today: 'Immigrants Rally in Scores of Cities for Legal Status.' The Washington Post calls yesterday's marches 'Immigration Rights Rallies' and called yesterday's D.C. march 'A Banner Day on the Mall.' USA Today's headline reads, 'Historic rallies voice a "dream:" Immigrants, backers demand citizenship.'
The Wall Street Journal headline reading, 'Immigration-Policy Protests Draw Huge Crowds of Workers' [Dobbs paused and then emphasized "workers."] "One newspaper, the Las Vegas Review-Journal, however, was somewhat more straightforward. It made this astute comment in an editorial today saying, quote [text on screen]: 'Organizers wanted the marches to be more about people and less about policy. Most television stations swallowed the bait and delivered news reports soft enough to follow Sesame Street on PBS. The reason for such an attest is obvious. If marchers made the demands the centerpiece for protests, the outcry from American taxpayers already fed up with immigration would overwhelm the previously full mailboxes of every member of Congress.'"

Philadelphia Inquirer TV reporter Gail Shister recounted Tuesday that incoming Today co-host Meredith Vieira, who in 2004 declared that the war was "built on lies" and marched in an anti-war protest, "says she's being unfairly labeled as a raving liberal by some right-wing bloggers." Vieira insisted that "I'm an independent. I'm not a Democrat or a Republican. I'm not particularly interested in politics," but then she undermined herself as she adopted the attitude of those on the far-left who apply the loaded "lie" term to assertions about the war: "Every time you read the paper, somebody lies about something [about the war.] I've been vocal about it....Every day there are new questions. I want to know why we are there, what the game plan is, what the discrepancies are between what we're being told and what's really going on."

The April 6 CyberAlert, in an item first posted a day earlier on the MRC's NewsBusters blog which put the topic into play in the blogoshere, reported: Meredith Vieira....marched in an anti-Iraq war protest back in August of 2004. On the Monday, August 30, 2004 edition of the ABC daytime show she quad-hosts, The View, the former CBS 60 Minutes reporter told viewers that she attended the anti-Bush protest held in New York City on the Sunday before the Republican convention opened, insisting: "I didn't go anti-Bush or pro-Kerry. I'm still so upset about this war and I'm so proud I live in a country where you can protest." She showed a photo of herself marching with her pre-teen daughter and her husband, Richard, who was the senior political producer at CBS News for most of the 1980s. Behind her in the photo: A protest sign featuring a "W," for George W. Bush, with a slash through it. Earlier in 2004, she declared of the Iraq war: "Everything's been built on lies. Everything! I mean the entire pre-text for war."

"Vieira Reiterates Anti-War View, Pledges to Keep It Off Air," read the headline over an April 7 CyberAlert item. See: www.mediaresearch.org

The criticism of Vieira has extended beyond conservatives, as noted on Monday's CyberAlert: Erik Sorenson, a former CBS and MSNBC news executive, foresees a "challenge" ahead for Meredith Vieira establishing her credibility on NBC's Today in the face of her anti-war activism and so she'll have to "modulate" her on-air pontificating. On Sunday's Reliable Sources on CNN, Howard Kurtz, picking up on Vieira's anti-war comments noted in CyberAlert, asked Sorenson: "Meredith Vieira marched in an anti-war demonstration a couple years ago, and she said on The View that the war was 'built on lies.' Does that create a credibility problem for her when she's interviewing guests on the Today show about Iraq?" Sorenson, the President of MSNBC from 1999 through early 2004 and Executive Producer of the CBS Evening News from 1991 to 1995, responded in the affirmative: "I think it's going to be a challenge" since "she has been out there with her opinions. And that's not going to be considered appropriate on the Today show. And she will have to modify that and modulate that voice." Go to: www.mediaresearch.org

NewsBusters Editor Greg Sheffield caught Vieira's comments to Shister and posted a short item about it Wednesday. The relevant portion of Shister's recounting of her interview with Vieira, which was mostly devoted to discussing the appearance of Vieira's breasts:

An outspoken critic of the war in Iraq, Vieira says she's being unfairly labeled as a raving liberal by some right-wing bloggers.

"I'm an independent. I'm not a Democrat or a Republican. I'm not particularly interested in politics, truth be told. Every time you read the paper, somebody lies about something [about the war.] I've been vocal about it.

"Every day there are new questions. I want to know why we are there, what the game plan is, what the discrepancies are between what we're being told and what's really going on. [Conservatives] can paint me as anything they want. I know what I am. I'm comfortable with the positions I've taken in my life."

From the April 11 Late Show with David Letterman, in the wake of news that in the late 1990s Dick Cheney was hit by shotgun pellets during hunting trip in New Mexico, the "Top Ten Little Known Facts About Dick Cheney." Late Show home page: www.cbs.com

10. Has iPod pacemaker that keeps his heart beating to Aerosmith

9. Enjoys reading his grandson excerpts from shady defense contracts

8. First vice president since Mondale to take a leak in the Rose Garden

7. Not sure if this is significant but he was the last to see Don Knotts alive

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